Sleep Apnea, obstructive

Goat Lover · Post by **Goat Lover** » May 22nd, 2006, 10:09 pm

Rangers and Medics;
I have exhaustively searched with no luck, so only now will i ask. I suffer from sleep apnea, but it is obstructive, not neurological. I am in stage 3,4 and 5 rest 7 percent of the time i rest. In other words i rest about 21 minutes a night. Now the good part is that it is obstructive, so its possible with surgery to cure this problem; the bad part is that as of now i suffer from temp memory lose, somnolence, and Constance drowsiness. I will have the first of 5 surgery's next week.

If the surgery's clear my problems, and i still have to wear a cpap, would this dq me from any Ranger/SFAS courses? Do you know of any SOF soldiers that use the Cpap on occasion? I didn't see any reg that said it was a disqualifying piece of medical equipment.

GoardHeart · Post by **GoardHeart** » May 22nd, 2006, 11:58 pm

AR 40-501 Criteria and Procedure Requirements for Physical Standards for Appointment, Enlistment, or Induction in the Armed Forces.

Section 2-35 paragraph "p" lists sleep apnea as a cause for rejection. I didn't see anything about a positive airway pressure pump but the manual is 119 pages long and I only glanced at it. Here's the LINK I just searched "army medical regulation" in google.

ma91c1an · Post by **ma91c1an** » May 23rd, 2006, 1:20 am

It is highly likely that it is a disqualifying condition.

There is no way that you are going to carry and use a battery powered CPAP or BIPAP machine in the bush--if they even exist.

What will you do when you deploy somewhere that lacks electricity?

By all means, get your surgery. If using a positive airway pump can help you sleep, then use it.

But look into another profession. If the Army will take you at all....which is doubtful, in my mind...there are plenty of other jobs which require good people.

Goat Lover · Post by **Goat Lover** » May 23rd, 2006, 4:54 am

ma91c1an wrote:
What will you do when you deploy somewhere that lacks electricity?

The same thing I did during OIF for 15 months, drive on and complete the mission. Ma91c1an, that is great advise and yes other organizations need good people, i agree. But i truly believe I'm can beat this condition with the right surgeon, being the problem is 85 percent obstructive and 3 percent central (mind signal). Here are the results of my sleep study:

"The study Begin at 10:33pm and ended at 5:20. Total recorded sleep time was 306 minutes. The sleep Efficiency Index was 75%. Latency to stage 1 was 14 minutes. Latency to stage REM from sleep onset was 264 minutes. Stages/Distribution of sleep:1=52%, 2=40%, 3 and 4(slow wave) = 1 %, REM = 6%"

There were 509 apnes recorded in just over 5 hours. In the average night, I wake up over 100 times an hour will i *think* I'm sleeping. I hope these surgery's work.

Goat Lover · Post by **Goat Lover** » May 23rd, 2006, 5:16 am

LT,
Great find, even better news. Triple Canopy, the cpap is allowed in the Army!

Interesting enough, during OIF, i could run 3 miles in 19:44, was 202 pounds and great shape. now I'm 266 and very ill. I'm truly looking forward to the surgery. I'm sure my weight gain has a tremendous effect on my health, but its a revolving door, the sicker i get the more weight i gain. I'm sure once i get well enough to work out again, the pounds will drop, and the apnea will ease.

Thanks again guys, i have a new outlook on my future now.

Ranger Bill · Post by **Ranger Bill** » May 23rd, 2006, 5:21 am

Good luck with your surgery.

DJB · Post by **DJB** » May 23rd, 2006, 9:30 am

Wow who would have guessed, there the answer was, the whole time, In the First Fucking Sticky!

ma91c1an · Post by **ma91c1an** » May 23rd, 2006, 10:34 am

Holy shit.

I stand corrected. Thanks for helping me learn something new. And thanks for going to the 'box and doing the deed.

I sincerely hope that your surgery works for you.

I have sleep apnea, myself, and I sleep with a fucking BIPAP.

Got to say....for me, there was life before the BIPAP, and there is life afterwards. Life afterwards is much, much better.

If I try to sleep without it....I wake up with excruciating headaches.

I really do hope that your surgery goes well.

Good luck.

Goat Lover · Post by **Goat Lover** » May 23rd, 2006, 1:37 pm

Everyone, and i do mean everyone, say that the machine changes their life. Ma91c1an, I'm with you. There isn't a day that goes by that I don't wake up without a headache that would make the average man pee his pants. Did you suffer from memory loss also? I'm guessing with the cpap that i will lose weight and the headaches and memory loss will go away.

ma91c1an · Post by **ma91c1an** » May 24th, 2006, 1:37 am

Yup, memory loss, narcolepsy, all of that shit improved after I learned to sleep with a BIPAP.

Think about it: you are virtually choking, and waking up gasping for air, because you stop breathing. Your brain is anoxic. That is why you have a headache when you wake up.

That shit is extremely unhealthy.

I am pretty sure that I added at least a decade to my life expectancy by learning to sleep with the BIPAP.

My doc explained that surgery had a limited success rate. I trust VA surgeons as much as I trust women, which is not at all, so I passed on it. The BIPAP is working for me.

Dropping weight....hell, yeah. It helps, big time.

Thursday · Post by **Thursday** » May 24th, 2006, 6:55 am

There is another alternative to sleep apnea other than surgery. It is basically a mouthguard that you wear while sleeping that repositions the mandible so that when you lie suppine it (the mandible) doesnt fall and obstruct your airway.

I read a story about this about a year ago in the Chicago Tribune detailing the accounts of a study that had very positive results. The only drawback is that this isnt a permanat fix, meaning, if you forget it or you lose it, you are back with the apnea.

Also, it is said to only work in mild to moderate cases of Obstructive Sleep Apnea, but, even if you do have severe OSA, it will still give you the benifits.

You can read more about the mouthguard by clicking here.

Also, my cousin's husband had corrective surgery for sever OSA about a year ago, where he had his uvula removed, adenoids removed as well as other soft tissue on the soft pallate and other areas shaved down. The day after he underwent his surgery, he was in total misery. When his nurse gave him his daily meds, they were in liquid form, he drank them down, only to have them come right back up his nose as well as out of his ears.

The risks of surgery make this a permanat possiblity while eating or drinking liquids. It will always be possible that while eating soup that if you tilt your head in such a mannor, that the soup will come back up your nose. As for it comming out of his ears, there is a waste duct that runs from the ears to the nasal sinus called the eustachian tube, in which case the liquid runs the opposite way and exits through the ear. My cousin's husband condition did get better, but he still does have some trouble on occasion with liquids comming out of his nose, though, he hasnt had anything leak from his ears again. Also, this can also happen to your eyes as well. The lacriminal duct runs from the posteior area of the eyes to the nasal sinus for waste removal, and if the situation presents itself, it is possible for liquid to travel from your nose to your eyes and come out.

I'm not trying to discourage you from having this surgery nor am I in any position to recieve any monetary benifit from the mouthguard; I'm just saying that you need to be aware of all of the risks and repurcussions of the surgery before you go ahead with it.

Good luck.
-Thursday

DJB · Post by **DJB** » May 24th, 2006, 8:15 am

as well as out of his ears

Anatomically speaking I donâ€™t see how this is accurate unless he had ruptured his TMs as well.